


First Christmases

by little_wayward_bird



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood: Lost Days
Genre: Baby Jason Todd, Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Fluff, happy holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:34:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28329807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_wayward_bird/pseuds/little_wayward_bird
Summary: Happy holidays! I hope everyone has had a safe and happy time. Love to you all <3And hopeful to a happy new year!
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88





	First Christmases

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays! I hope everyone has had a safe and happy time. Love to you all <3  
> And hopeful to a happy new year!

  
The house was quiet, as it usually was in the early morning at Wayne Manor. Except this morning was different than others, because it was Christmas morning, but not only that, it was Jason’s first Christmas with the family. The boy was twelve years old and has never had a chance to celebrate a holiday. He mentioned his mother was Christian but wasn’t really faithful in any way. He didn’t care about what Willis celebrated.

Jason got to witness and join in on their celebration of Chanukah and now they were going to show him Christmas. Bruce had grown up Jewish in his early childhood, even though the Wayne’s were famous for their Christmas parties. That was simply a way for them to bring people together. After his parents died, he and Alfred continued celebrating both, one of faith and hope, and one of love and family. And this year, they were determined to show Jason what family truly was.

Bruce went all out with decorating but in a subtle, more traditional sense as he didn’t want to overwhelm Jason. Throughout the month he really seemed to get into it. He was still wary, but his trust and comfortability was growing. They also didn’t want to overwhelm him with an obnoxious amount of gifts so they simply found meaningful gifts they know Jason will love rather than a bunch of random things.

Bruce quietly went upstairs to wake him while Alfred waited downstairs. He very slowly opened Jason’s bedroom door and was surprised at what he saw. His room was a mess of wrapping paper scraps and ribbons. There were two very nicely wrapped presents at the foot of the bed, one medium sized one and one small one. Bruce smiled a little and turned to his boy in his bed. He was sprawled across it as if he just fell onto it last night and instantly passed out.

Bruce knew better than to wake him up by touching him, so he crouched beside the bed and turned on the lamp. There was a stack of books beside it, as if Jason didn’t have a bookshelf covering the length of the opposite wall.

“Jason,” Bruce said quietly. “Merry Christmas, son.”

Jason was a very light sleeper and it was rare for him to be woken up and come to with ease. Thankfully, he did this morning. He shifted his head and very slowly opened his eyes.

“Bruce?” His voice came out in a whisper. “Whatta ya doin’?”

Bruce smiled, “It’s Christmas morning, Jaylad.”

Jason’s eyes closed a little. “Oh.” Then very spontaneously they opened and Jason got up to his knees and crawled to the end of the bed. He looked down and sighed in relief. He sat down and crossed his legs then rubbed his right hand across his eyes. Bruce chuckled lightly.

“Thought you didn’t wrap ‘em, huh?”

Jason huffed and looked back at him, a sleepy look on his face, “Yeah. What time is it?”

Bruce smirked and stood up, then walked to the presents. He picked up a bag and placed the two boxes into it. Jason just watched him. “It’s just after nine o’clock. Alfred wanted to do sunrise, but after you did so well last night on patrol, I figured we could let you sleep a bit longer.” Jason nodded and rubbed his eyes again. Bruce leaned down and picked up his very small son. He placed him on his hip and Jason wrapped his arms around his neck with a yawn. Bruce held the bag in his other hand then went downstairs. Jason was nearly asleep in his arms by the time they got to the main room. He gently placed him down on the couch then placed the presents with the others under the tree.

Alfred walked into the room with a tray of hot chocolate. The smell alone seemed to pull Jason from his foggy state as he opened his eyes and looked to Alfred, smiling.

“Merry Christmas young sir. Would you like some cocoa?”

Jason nodded with a bright smile and took a mug. “Thank you, Alfie.”

Bruce accepted his and watched as Jason took a sip. As he did, Jay’s eyes widened when the moved to the tree.

“That’s a lot of presents. Are Dick and Barbara coming?”

Bruce shook his head. “No, Dick is celebrating with the Titans and Barbara is with her father. It’s just the three of us today.”

Jason’s face scrunched up. “Then why are there so many? Are there coming later?”

Bruce shook his head again and crouched bedside Jason. “No, son. Those are for you.” There were twelve presents, minus Jason’s two, and they were all for him, one for each year he’d been alone and his first year with them. And there was also a stocking full over the fireplace that was green and red with Jason’s name sewn on by Alfred; they hadn’t let him see it until this morning. Jason looked at them in shock, then slowly put his mug on the table and walked over to the tree. He crouched down and looked at them all. He genuinely seemed surprised by them. Jason looked back at them, his eyes just a little bit wet.

“Go ahead, Jase,” Bruce encouraged him. Jason stared at him for a moment then hesitantly sat down beside the tree and picked a box up. Jason took his time opening each present, treating each with immense care. When he got to the last one, the one they intentionally hid behind the rest, Jason stood up and handed Alfred the medium sized box and Bruce the small one. He didn’t look in their eyes as he did then just went back to the tree and sat down with the last one.

“How about we open them together, Jaylad?” Bruce suggested with a small smile. He nodded, smiling shyly now. They all very carefully opened their gifts, though Jason was going slower, more watching them open theirs from him. Alfred finished through his first so Bruce paused to see what Jason gave him.

Alfred gently pulled something out which was wrapped in tissue paper. He pulled it off and revealed a photo album. It was one of the many empty ones they had in the library that have been waiting to be used. Alfred smiled and opened it. Bruce leaned over to look.

“I hope it’s okay, I found the book in the library and the old Polaroid camera in one of the rooms upstairs,” Jason told them humbly.

Both Alfred and Bruce smiled brightly. There were photos of the three of them and it was clear that his Robin training in stealth has paid off. Some were selfies of Jason with them in the background, others looked like he must have set it to a timer so he was in it properly. There were also some with Dick and Barbara too. There were pictures of around the manor and the grounds, of out in town, Chanukah, and just about anything that documents the past nine months Jason has been with them. Excluding their nighttime activities though. It was just of the Wayne’s.

After a few minutes of flipping through it, Alfred looked up to Jason, eyes watering a little. “This is wonderful, thank you.” Jason smiled happily and nodded. Alfred gently closed the album and turned to Bruce, almost smirking knowingly. Jason looked to him too, his gift still half open waiting in his lap.

Bruce smirked and finished opening his. He opened the box and found another small one inside. Except that one was a jewelry box. He glanced up at Jason; his face was a little red as he waited nervously. Bruce opened it and his mouth opened a little in surprise. It was his father’s watch, fixed and ticking with the hour for the first time in twenty years. On the outside of the clock itself, above twelve and below six, were two pearls, his mother’s pearls. Bruce stared at it for a moment then looked up to Jason who was looking humbly at the floor.

“He’s been working on it for five months,” Alfred told him quietly. “Just finished it last week.”

Bruce nodded and turned back to his son, smiling emotionally. “Thank you, Jason. I truly don’t know what else to say. Thank you.”

Jason grinned, face still red.

“Open your last one, kiddo.”

Jason nodded and looked down to the gift on his lap. He pulled the rest of the paper off and folded the tissue paper back. He reached his hands into the box and pulled out the smaller box inside. It was a thin long box. Jason opened it from one side and stuck his hand inside. He pulled out the papers. His eyes widened as he read them.

Bruce smiled, “I thought we should make it official. If you want to anyway.”

Before he even finished, Jason was on his feet and sprinting at Bruce. He crashed into his lap and hugged him as tightly as he could around his middle. Bruce hugged him back, just as hard.

“Thank you,” Jason sobbed out. “Thank you.”

“You’re part of the family, Jason. And you always will be. You will always be my son.”

“Thank you, dad.”

* * *

Jason stared up at the manor. He had been straddling his bike out front for five minutes now, completely unsure if he should go in, if he was even wanted in there. It was the first Christmas since he died and came back that the whole family knew he was alive, and were getting along. Nobody had invited him, explicitly anyway. They continued to mention it for the past few weeks, very blatantly telling him it was happening. But Jason was still nervous.

He sighed and took his helmet off. He placed it on his handle bars and ran a gloved hand through his hair. He stood up and started walking through the snow then up the steps. When he got to the door and lifted his hand to knock, he froze. He hesitated for a minute before slowly dropping it and taking a couple steps back. He looked out at the front grounds blanketed in snow. It was so peaceful, just like his first Christmas at the manor eight years ago. He just stared out, thinking about nothing in particular.

The door opened behind him and a gentle voice spoke, except it wasn’t Alfred like he’d been expecting.

“Jaylad, you know you don’t have to knock, right?”

Jason could hear the smile on Bruce’s voice. He took a breath and turned around to face him. He had on his infamous black turtle neck, but the sleeve was pulled up just a little on left arm, and Jason could see a familiar watch on his wrist.

“Really? I didn’t think I was-”

Bruce stepped out, closing the door to a crack behind him. He smiled and put a gentle hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Jason, you are always welcome here. This is your home. Just because we’ve had our… differences,” Jason snorted a little but Bruce continued, “this is still your home. Always has been, and will continue to be. And you’re my son, and that will never change.”

Jason smiled a little and forced his eyes to meet Bruce’s. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Jason. Just come inside and be with us.”

“Seriously, Jason, get your butt in here! We’ve been waiting three hours now!” Stephanie called out from inside.

Jason furrowed his brows at Bruce and followed him in. “Three hours? What for?”

Bruce turned to him and tilted his head with a smile. “You. We knew you’d show up eventually, and we weren’t going to start without you. Especially since presents from you to us are already under the tree.”

Jason couldn’t keep the surprise from showing on his face, but didn’t say anything, knowing his face was turning a little pink. He took off his jacket and hung it up in the hall closet. Bruce stayed with him. When they walked into the main room, a roll was flung at his face. He instinctively caught it and looked around to figure out who threw it. Tim was the likely culprit as he spoke first.

“Took you long enough, we haven’t even gotten to eat yet.”

Jason rose a brow and took a bite out of the roll.

“Tim, leave it alone. Not like you eat that often anyway. We’re really glad you came, Jay,” Dick greeted. He got to his feet and hugged Jason like the octopus he was. He let go quickly though, grinning like an idiot. Jason just gave him a small smile, but found it was actually genuine.

“Master Jason, welcome home.” Alfred appeared in the far doorway, smiling happily. “Now that we’re all here, let’s proceed to the dining room for brunch. Jason stayed and just watched as the rest of the family stood and hurried to the table. Except Barbara who of course rolled. Once they were all out, that just left Jason, Bruce, and Alfred in the room.

Jason walked up to the tree and just looked at it. There were very old ornaments on the tree, including ones Jason had picked out. His dad and grandfather walked up behind him.

“Jason, before we join the others, Alfred and I wanted to give you this.”

Jason turned around. Their faces looked emotional in the tree lights. That was actually the only light source in the room. Bruce held out a small box to him. Jason carefully took it and gently pulled off the paper. This was the first gift he’s received since before he died. There was a small box inside the wrapped one. It was a jewelry box, a very familiar looking one. Jason lifted his eyes to look at Bruce. He was smiling so genuinely, it struck Jason a little.

He opened the small box and found a watch resting inside. It was black and silver with green accents inside. He flipped it over and saw an engraving on the back. Son, with love, Dad and Alf.

“We had it made for your sixteenth birthday. We’ve kept it and now, we finally have the chance to give it to you,” Bruce told him quietly.

Jason just stared at the watch, not really sure how to respond. He supposed there was only one thing he could say. He looked up at them, his eyes just a bit watery now.

“Thank you… I-”

Bruce smiled so happily there were tears in the corners of his eyes, and stepped closer to him. He placed both hands on his shoulders. “Merry Christmas, Jason.”


End file.
